It really does just take a few to ruin it for the rest of it. I don’t know what you degenerates were doing at Dollar General, but thanks so much for completely eliminating the self-checkout. 

If you haven’t been to a Dollar General lately, you might not know what I am talking about; if you have then you know the self-checkouts are now nonexistent. The one in Newtown has a sign on it reading, “this employee has been fired.” It is not just that one Dollar General and it is not just unique to Warren County. Dollar Generals all around are closing their self-checkouts. 

I can only imagine what people are stealing from a Dollar General. I go to court pretty frequently and the two most consistent places people shoplift from are Walmart and Dollar General. I feel like the list of people who are banned from Walmart in this town is absurdly long. People are stealing stupid things too. A lot of the time when I look into a shoplifting case I expect like a huge amount or a pricey item, but it is just like $16.67 worth of items.  

I am particularly upset at these people who ruined my self-checkout experience because I love using the self-checkout. I hate to be one of those introverted people, but I don’t need to have a human interaction when I go to a store. I would much rather check myself out. It just seems quicker and easier. Dollar General is also kind of a weird place because I could go in for something simple like tape, and leave with tape, a pint of ice cream, a picture frame and a squishy ghost. I don’t need a cashier judging my impulsive ice cream purchase. Self-checkout never judged. 

I just don’t understand how people think it is OK to steal. I also don’t understand how people think they won’t get caught. There are cameras. I moved funny at Walmart one time and the whole self-checkout system shut down and I had to wait for an associate. The camera thought I double scanned or missed an item because I scanned something and moved the item away from the bag area. Maybe Dollar General needed that kind of technology. 

It is also especially frustrating because many of these stores completely remodeled in order to have more self-checkouts and less cashiers. The one in Newtown remodeled and has two self-checkouts and one regular register. The lines are now longer and some of these stores have trouble retaining employees so sometimes a cashier is not readily available. 

Ultimately, I know I am antisocial. I’m sure some people are happy they are doing away with self-checkouts. I agree in some instances a person is better than a machine. Ascend Bank in the mall is a big example of a place that needs more people and less machines. The kiosks at this bank do connect you with a real person (miles away), but I miss when cashing a check was a simple process that took less than two minutes with me and a physical person. 

Anyway I digress. Stop stealing things, people. Figure it out. 

Standard News Editor Bethany Porter can be contacted at bporter@southernstandard.com